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Class C Emergency: Third Degree Sexual Abuse is punishable by an indeterminate prison sentence of 10 years in prison. If you or a loved one has been arrested or is being investigated for causing any injury to any person through suspected sexual abuse, you should not delay in obtaining criminal representation. Contact David A. Cmelik Law PLC at 319-389-1889 for an initial consultation today.

cedar rapids / iowa city criminal defense

Sexual Abuse in the Third Degree Defined

by David A. Cmelik Law PLC

Sexual Abuse in the Third Degree is by far the most complicated kind of sexual abuse because it can be committed in so many different ways and can relate to the age of both the alleged perpetrator and the chief complaining witness, or, alleged victim.

It is sexual abuse committed under any of the follow circumstances: (1) the act is committed by force or against the will of the other person regardless of whether or not the other person is the person's spouse or is cohabiting with the other person; (2) the act is between persons who are not at the time cohabiting as husband and wife and if any of the following are true: (a) the other person is suffering for a mental defect or incapacity which precludes giving consent; (b) the other person is twelve or thirteen years of age; (c) the other person is fourteen or fifteen years of age and any of the following are true: (1) the person is the member of the same household as the other person; (2) the person is related to the other person by blood or affinity to the fourth degree; (3) the person is in a position of authority over the other person and uses that authority to coerce the other person to submit; (4) the person is four or more years older than the other person.

Sexual abuse in the third degree can also be committed if the act is performed if the other person is under the influence of a controlled substance which may include but is not limited to flunitrazepam, preventing the person from consenting; and the person performing the act knew or should have known the other person was under the influence of a controlled substance.

Sexual abuse in the third degree can also be committed if the act is performed while the person is mentally incapacitated, physically incapacitated, or physically helpless.

Sexual abuse is a Class "C" felony punishable by a maximum indeterminate prison sentence of ten years. It requires lifetime registration and lifetime special sentence parole.

A blog is not legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is established by reading a blog or by sending unsolicited information to an attorney over the Internet. Consult an attorney licensed in the State of Iowa and limited exclusively to the practice of criminal law if you or a loved one has been arrested or is being investigated for a criminal offense in the Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Waterloo, or other Iowa community. Contact David A. Cmelik Law PLC for an initial consultation today.